Thursday, December 25, 2014

Its been a busy year for boat moving. I've clocked up just under 4,000nm. What have I learned? Lots.

1. I don't like rounding Hatteras in early December, even though we got a nice weather window and I was on a 50ft Cat.

2. I don't like 52 kt. gusting cold winter winds off the US coast.

3. And AIS. I originally thought that a receive only AIS was perfectly acceptable for your average cruising sailboat. Its still a great addition if money is tight. BUT, the big boys are just not paying attention and seem to believe that if they can't see it on the AIS screen it does not exist. I will now install a Transceiver AIS unit once I actually move the boat. Keep in mind that as a Class B AIS user you will only transmit at 2 watts (1/3 the power of a handheld VHF). This will naturally affect the range that you can be seen.